Brexit negotiations could be postponed due to understaffing

It is possible that Britain will remain in the European Union until the end of 2019 because Whitehall departments might not be ready in time to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin Brexit.

At the EU referendum held on June 23, no less than 52 per cent of British voters decided to pull their country out of the European Union, but it now seems that key negotiations to exit may be delayed.

These negotiations are supposed to begin in January 2017, but important figures in the City of London have warned that the new Brexit and international trade departments are behind schedule due to understaffing, so Prime Minister Theresa May could be forced to push back the timetable.

Moreover, elections are set to be held in Germany and France later next year, which could further push back the start date of the two-year process of leaving the EU.

Brexit secretary David Davis and international trade secretary Liam Fox have both suggested that the UK could actually leave the EU at the start of 2019, according to their estimations.

This new state of affairs, which indicated that UK will leave EU almost one year later than predicted, could upset a lot of the Leave supporters who wished for a quick and smooth Brexit.